Hard Lessons
by jellydonut14
Summary: Bolin is excited when he finds out he is getting a new earthbending mentor, but things aren't quite what he expected...


**Hey peoples! I am not dead! Sorry for the loooonnnggg hiatus, but serious things came up and I had business to take care of. On the bright side, I am now a successful college grad with a career now. A word of advice to everyone attending or thinking about attending college: Switching majors does not make you a failure. Don't be stupid like me and wait until your GPA goes down the toilet to make the switch. You want to know what would make you a failure? Graduating in a major purely for the money/prestige and getting a job that makes you feel miserable. Don't let other people convince you to do something you don't want to do simply because there's lots of money in it. That money won't mean anything if you are miserable. If a major doesn't feel right for you, it probably isn't. On that same note, it also perfectly fine to enter college and not declare a major for the first year or so. Find out what you really want to do first, then make that decision.**

**Now, onto happier things. Now that I am out of college and have a reliable career, I have all the time in the world to live my life! So yes, I am back for good. *Throws confetti* I am still working on the next chapter of Irreplaceable, but I decided to whip this story up first to get back into the swing of things. This one-shot takes place at some point between the end of season one and the beginning of season two. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Korra. All copyrights for the The Legend of Korra belong to Michael DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko and Viacom. This fanfiction was written for entertainment purposes only and does not earn any profit.**

Bolin dashed across the immaculate stone ground of Air Temple Island in the crisp morning air. Never before in his life had he ever been this excited for anything. Not even the memory of making it to the probending championship could come close. That morning, he had been told by Korra that Lin wanted him to meet her at the lake area immediately after breakfast for earthbending lessons! _Lin Bei Fong_; Former chief of police, metal bending master, daughter of the world's greatest earthbender. And she actually wanted to take him on as her student!

She must have been impressed with his totally awesome moves at the probending championships. He certainly did amaze the crowd, even if those filthy wolfbats cheated. Or maybe Korra had mentioned his skill to the old chief. Whatever the reason, Bolin was dead set on proving to his new mentor that she had chosen wisely. The young earthbender mused to himself what he would be learning since he already knew most earthbending forms. Maybe she was going to teach him metalbending! This was going to be _sweet_.

Lin was sitting on an earth column some 8 -9 feet in the air within the lake alcove at the very base of Air temple Island, with a simple tea set gracing the top of a second column next to her. After pouring herself another steaming cup, she breathed in deep and concentrated on the vibrations that trickled in. A disappointed growl was all that broke the silence. Her earth sense had become dull, and while she could accept that she would never be as proficient with it as her mother, Lin knew that this was still unacceptable. Clad in nothing more than a simple earth kingdom outfit, Lin felt somewhat lost and vulnerable without her metal cables, and this upset her even more. How had she let things come to this? It took most of last night to get a feel for her more advanced earthbending forms. But, while heartwrenching, it was for the best that she set aside her armor for a while. With no metal to depend on now, she was forced to return to her roots, and strangely, it felt…liberating. Comforting even. Like she had regained a long forgotten part of her soul. Today, her new student will learn to do the same.

That boy is running with the avatar now, so he needs to fight like it. It was obvious that the only training Bolin ever had was in the probending styles, and if he wants any hope of successfully supporting the avatar, then he needs to learn how to keep that sporting nonsense where it belongs. Judging from her previous observations of him helping Korra with her training, Lin knew she had her work cut out for her. Bolin had precision and control down pat, so at least she had something to work with. However, without the foundations and philosophy, he would never reach his full potential.

Bolin could see his instructor waiting for him when he approached the small lake nestled between two cliffs. She had her back to him, and just as he was about to announce his presence, she suddenly stood up from her high perch and lowered the earth columns to just a few inches from the ground. After finishing what was in her cup, Lin set it down on the tea tray and moved to stand in front of him with her arms folded behind her back.

"Good morning."

Oh yes, Bolin noted, her "earth sense," as it was known. It still unsettled him how she basically had eyes all around her. His gaze shifted to the tea set and noted that it was intact and that there wasn't a single drop of tea spilled on the polished tray.

"What? You aren't going to greet your mentor?"

"Oh, I-I'm sorry. Good morning, sifu." Bolin said with a quick bow.

Lin smirked. "Much better. I trust that you are ready to work very hard, because I don't tolerate slackers."

"Yes ma'am! You won't have any problems with me. I didn't get to the probending championships by being lazy. So what am I going to learn first? Breaking through a metal fortress? How to tie up crooks with those cables? _Oh!_ How about swinging from buildings and stuff?"

While Bolin continued with his enthusiastic musings, he failed to notice his sifu standing there, hands still behind her back, but with a smile slowly spreading across her face. Bolin stopped his ramblings when he heard soft chuckling.

"Um, what's so funny?"

"Metalbending? You don't even have the right stance for basic earthbending! You have a long way to go before you can even start to think about metalbending. But to your credit, you _are_ driven."

Seeing his excitement melt into disappointment was heartbreaking, even for Lin. "But…I'm a top probending athlete. Everyone says my form is flawless."

"While you are accomplished in the arena, your bending is still very underdeveloped. As long as you lack the core ideas behind the art of earthbending, you will never have real power. I am here to help you change that."

Harsh, but it needed to be said. Lin was never one to sugar coat anything and it was best that all her students start out with a firm and realistic understanding of their situation. So from experience alone, she expected backlash. She expected some kind of defense, some attempt to salvage his ego.

Instead, Bolin's cheeks flushed light pink, and he sat down on a small platform he raised up with a sigh. "Then what is real power?"

Lin recovered from her initial shock with a ghost of a smile. Perhaps this won't be so hard after all.

"You understand the finer points of control and precision. Probending has taught you this very well. However, it strips away the philosophy of earthbending, and as a result, you never learned strength. Power is strength, control, and precision all rolled into one. That sport is just that; a sport. Its forms are designed to accomplish goals that are completely different from those of a real fight. It downplays creativity and those little disks, by their very nature, stunt the growth of your ability. All you can learn with them is how to launch small projectiles. It's next to impossible to learn proper defense, close quarter combat, and how to control greater amounts of earth. It isn't _real_ earthbending."

Bolin seemed to consider this for a moment. "Demonstration please?"

"Gladly."

After covering the tea set with a shell, "Never ruin good tea", Lin stood up and walked a few paces from him. Dropping into a horse stance, she brought up multiple boulders of various sizes all at once and launched them into the surrounding cliff, one immediately after the other, to form an image of the Beifong family crest. She then began using a series of flipping panels to disappear underground and then reappear in a different place over and over. She didn't reappear for a short bit, and then exploded to the surface on an earthen twister. It was all Bolin could to do to shield himself from the sandy onslaught and gaze in wonder at the speed and control with which his teacher moved.

Lin came crashing to the ground and reformed the aggressive twisting mass into a giant wave of sand and rock that she was riding on top of. Bolin's eyes grew wide the moment he realized that she was barreling at top speed straight at him. With no time to react, the hapless earthbender screamed and brought his arms up over his head to try and protect himself.

Silence. Moments passed, and all that was felt was a few bits of dirt falling on his head. Bolin slowly opened his tightly shut eyes and looked up to see the giant wave hovering over him, seemingly frozen in time. It suddenly began pulling back and receded back into the ground. He looked around through the thick residual dust cloud for any sign of Lin.

Her figure slowly emerged from the haze, smirking, and smeared in dirt. With a casual wave of her hands, the dust cleared, revealing the surrounding area back in the state it was found.

"Still think probending is enough?"

"What am I going to learn first?!"Bolin answered with a wide grin.

He visibly flinched when Lin's expression abruptly dropped into scowl. "Let's start by fixing your horrible stance. Feet apart. Wider! Now bend your knees, lightweight!"

Bolin scrambled to follow her instructions and grit his teeth at being forced into an unfamiliar and very uncomfortable position. "Yes, sifu!"

"A proper horse stance is strong and rooted. I should be able to stand on it and you won't move anywhere."

A tiny squeal escaped from his mouth when Bolin realized that she wasn't joking and would probably test him on that later. Maybe now, from the looks of it. _Spirits help me._


End file.
